 Sherlock 2 for Mac OS 9, Files Channel Sherlock, named after Sherlock Holmes, is the file and web searching tool made by Apple Computer for the Mac OS, introduced with Mac OS 8.5 as an extension of the Mac OS Finder's file searching capabilities. Like its predecessor, it can search for local files and file contents, but it can also search for items through the world wide web through a set of plugins that harness existing web search engines. These plugins are plain text files, so it is fairly simple for a user to write a Sherlock plugin.
The Sherlock File Format
The Sherlock search plugin is an SGML document, and is typically given the ".src" file extension. The Sherlock plug-in is composed of three parts, identified by their element names: <search>, <input>, and <interpret> tags. These elements allow Sherlock to (respectively) identify a search's engine's web page and the parts that are relevant to searching, as well as returning the results of the search. There is also a facility for defining how a Sherlock plug-in can update itself.
Sherlock search plugins can also be used (with minor modifications) in Mozilla's browser suites. These plugins are, appropriately enough, known as Mycroft project plugins. Among some of the changes made in the Sherlock file format is the separation of the automatic update element (which formed part of the <search> element) and the icon (provided in a separate file in Mozilla and part of the resource fork in Sherlock).
Related Software
Advocates of Watson made by Karelia Software, LLC claim that Apple copied off their product without permission, compensation, and attribution.
Versions
See also: Mycroft project
External links
- Apple: Sherlock (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/sherlock/)
- Karelia: Watson FAQ (http://www.karelia.com/watson/watsonFAQ.html) - See "What is the relationship between Watson and the new Sherlock 3?".
- Karelia: Developing Tools for Watson (http://www.karelia.com/developer/watson/) - See "How does Watson's plug-in architecture compare to Sherlock 3?".
|
